Naming the All-Time Greats: A Philosophical Analysis of (Mostly Baseball) Rankings

By Bryan Frances

Is Willie Mays the greatest baseball player of all time? Is Michael Jordan or LeBron James more worthy of the title of greatest basketball player? These players who deserve to be called the greatest of all time (commonly bearing the acronym "GOAT") are the subject of much debate. There is wide agreement that these designations are subjective. But we also think they are somewhat objective. Andy Murray was a great tennis player, but he wasn't the GOAT, and Derek Jeter isn't the GOAT baseball player. Those seem to be objective facts, not subjective opinions--and it seems as though you could even prove them. In addition, although it's a subjective opinion that either Babe Ruth or Willie Mays is the greatest baseball player ever, it seems like a completely objective fact that they are in the top 50. How can subjectivity and objectivity coexist in the same GOAT ranking list? And what principles or rules of thumb are being used to craft such lists? How can we make them better? Is there such thing as a truly correct list? Written by an expert in logic, this book offers the first philosophical account of the meaning of the phrase "greatest of all time" as it's used in baseball. It offers answers to the above questions. It then takes its lessons and applies them to GOAT considerations in philosophy and music.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1476659257
• ISBN13: 9781476659251
• Release Date: March 2027
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 137 Pages
• Age Range: 18 years and up